Taiwanese go player Hsu Hao-hung (許皓鋐) yesterday won his first-ever gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, after defeating Chinese player Ke Jie (柯潔).
It was the first gold medal that Taiwan has won in go at the Asian Games, helping bring the nation’s total medal count at day’s end to four golds, four silvers and six bronzes.
The 22-year-old Hsu is considered Taiwan’s premier go player after claiming first place in all eight go competitions in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Hsu defeated South Korea’s Park Jung-hwan yesterday to qualify for the semi-finals before defeating Shin Jin-seo to become the first Taiwanese player to ever qualify for the gold-medal match.
Taiwan in 2010 won the bronze medal in women’s go at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and Taiwanese-Australian player Joanne Missingham and Taiwan’s Chou Chun-hsun (周俊勳) came in fourth in the mixed doubles at the same event.
Also yesterday, Taiwan nabbed a gold medal in men’s pommel horse after Lee Chih-kai (李智凱) successfully defended the title he won in 2018.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The 27-year-old Olympic medalist, known as the “prince of the pommel horse,” topped the event with a score of 15.500, while Japan’s Ryota Tsumura won silver with 15.166.
Fellow Taiwanese gymnast Shiao Yu-jan (蕭佑然) fell just short of the podium after scoring only 0.034 points lower than bronze medalist Nariman Kurbanov from Kazakhstan with 15.100.
“I was so nervous, I was really stressed before my turn,” Lee told reporters, commenting on how much he wanted to defend his crown and challenge himself.
He added that he made some mistakes in the beginning, so he quickly adjusted, and was surprised to get the same score as at the World University Games earlier this year.
Lee’s next stop is the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Belgium from today to Sunday next week. His goal is to reach the finals and qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics.
In the e-sports competition, Taiwanese Street Fighter V: Champion Edition players Lin Li-wei (林立瑋), known as “Oil King,” and Hsiang Yu-lin (向玉麟), known as “GamerBee,” faced off against each other in the losers’ bracket final, sending Hsiang to the finals with a 4-2 win and Lin home with a bronze.
However, Hsiang had to settle for silver after losing to South Korea’s Kim Gwan-woo 4-3.
Meanwhile, taekwondo athlete Lee Meng-en (李孟恩) won a bronze medal in the men’s over-80kg event yesterday, following a 2-0 semi-final loss to Arian Salimi of Iran.
In the quarter-finals Lee Meng-en fought an outstanding match to outlast Nikita Rafalovich of Uzbekistan, gold medalist at the last Asian Games, 2-1, but lost in straight rounds to Salimi 14-10, 16-13 to finish in third place.
Salimi won the bronze medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in May.
As a result of Lee Meng-en’s loss, Taiwan’s taekwondo team won no gold medals for the first time in the Asian Games.
Taiwanese athletes Lin Wei-chun (林唯均) and Lo Chia-ling (羅嘉翎) won silver medals in the women’s under-53kg and women’s under-57kg categories respectively.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old